Session timed out when editing Workspace Dashboard

[Johannes Grosb_]

My users are experience session timeout when they are editing on Workspace dashboard. 

So the question was raised: What is required to be 'Active', when apparently editing and adding to Dashboard is not enough?

Is it specified somewhere what is considered 'Active'?

[pr8172510 · Accepted solution]

Hi Johannes,

Yeah, this can be a bit confusing.

In ServiceNow, “activity” for session timeout is not based on everything the user does on the screen. It’s specifically tied to server interaction (requests sent to the backend), not just UI interactions like editing widgets or typing on a dashboard.

So when users are editing a Workspace Dashboard, a lot of those actions can be client-side only, which means:

• No server call is made
• The session timer is not reset
• Eventually, the session times out even though the user is actively working

What counts as “active”

Things that typically reset the session:

• Saving changes
• Navigating between records/pages
• Any action that triggers a server request

Things that usually do NOT:

• Editing dashboard layout
• Drag/drop widgets
• Typing/configuring without saving

What you can do

A couple of options depending on your setup:

1. Increase session timeout
   Check system properties like:
   • glide.ui.session_timeout
   • glide.ui.inactivity_timeout
2. User guidance
   Ask users to save periodically while editing dashboards
3. Custom keep-alive (if really needed)
   Some teams implement a lightweight periodic server call to keep the session alive, but this should be used carefully

[Tanushree Maiti]

Hi @Johannes Grosb_ 

In ServiceNow, sessions typically expire after about 30 minutes of inactivity.

Inactivity means there are no client-side actions (such as clicks or navigation) and no server-side interactions (like saving or submitting data).

While working on a dashboard, typing is treated as activity, but passively viewing a dashboard without any interaction is considered idle.

The duration before a session times out is controlled by the glide.ui.session_timeout property.